Federation of Malaysia
The Federation of Malaysia was the name given to the 1963 political union of several British colonies on the Malay Peninsula, as well as Singapore and the island of Borneo. In 1946, Britain had separated Singapore, which remained a crown colony, and organized the nine sultanates and two federal territories on the peninsula into the Malay Union. Sarawak and British North Borneo (Sabah) were brought under direct colonial control at that time. There was considerable opposition to the Malay Union, which the local leaders felt consolidated British control. After protracted negotiations with Malay rulers, the British established the Federation of Malaya on 1 February 1948. In this agreement, the British committed themselves to preparing for the Federation's independence. A federal government headed by a British High Commissioner was established in Kuala Lumpur.
Local-level elections were established in 1951, and the first federal elections were held in 1955. Soon after these elections, the coalition government dominated by the United Malays National Organization (UMNO) began negotiations with the British over independence, while Singapore was granted internal autonomy. As a result of an agreement between the British and ethnic Malay, Chinese, and Indian communities, on 31 August 1957, the independent Federation of Malaya was established. This compromise agreement gave ethnic Chinese and Indians citizenship rights but tacitly preserved the leadership role of ethnic Malays in government and constitutionally recognized the "special position and needs of the Malays," creating an affirmative action program. The agreement set up a parliamentary democracy with a bicameral parliament, composed of a nonelected upper house made up of the nine Malay sultans among whom the position of head of state, or paramount ruler, rotated, and an elected lower house.
On 12 May 1961, Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman proposed that the Federation of Malaysia absorb Singapore and the British-controlled territories in northern Borneo, Brunei, Sabah, and Sarawak to create a united Malaysia. The proposal was well accepted in peninsular Malaya and Singapore, but was less popular in the three Borneo territories. The proposal infuriated the Philippines, which asserted a claim over Sabah until 1987, and Indonesia, which viewed it as a neocolonialist plot and began a low-intensity conflict as part of President Sukarno's policy of Konfrontasi from 1963 to 1965. Elections were held for the first time in 1962 in Sabah and Brunei, and an Anglo-Malay commission visited the three territories in 1962, where it reported that following a September referendum a majority of the population was in favor of integration. Although Brunei opted to remain outside the Federation, on 16 September 1963, Sabah, Sarawak, and Singapore were constitutionally added to peninsular Malaya to create the Federation of Malaysia. Under the constitution, the state governments have only limited autonomy and internal security; nation defense, foreign policy, and fiscal policy are prerogatives of the federal government.
Despite the founding of the Federation of Malaysia, there was little attempt to integrate Singapore into the Federation. UMNO extremists feared giving their Singapore counterparts economic advantages and government contracts, yet Kuala Lumpur demanded an increased percentage of Singapore's revenues. The creation of the Federation also radically changed the racial makeup of the country. Though there was a large increase in the number of Chinese, there was a similar rise in the number of indigenous peoples from Sabah and Sarawak. The UMNO campaigned in Singapore's September 1963 elections, and Singapore's ruling party, The People's Action Party (PAP), campaigned in Malaysia's April 1964 elections, causing mistrust. In May 1965, the PAP and four other Chinese-dominated opposition parties founded the Malaysian Solidarity Convention, which convinced many in the UMNO that there was a Chinese plot to take over the country. Communal tensions continued, and on 6 August 1965, the Tunku notified the Singapore chief Lee Kwan Yew that Singapore would be expelled from the Federation. On 9 August 1965, without any Singaporean representatives in attendance, the Malaysian parliament passed a bill favoring separation by 126 to 0. The Republic of Singapore was founded that day. The Federation of Malaysia then adopted the official name Malaysia.
Further Reading
Andaya, Barbara Watson, and Leonard Y. Andaya. (2001) A History of Malaysia. 2d ed. Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaii Press.
Crouch, Harold. (1996) Government and Society in Malaysia. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
This is the complete article, containing 700 words
(approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page).
